I've played guitar for 29 years. My first love is acoustic guitar and I have some pretty cool instruments.

My axes of choice:

C.F. Martin HD-35 (1991)
Larrivee L-19 (1994)

I used to have an electric guitar, but I sold it so that I could buy a motorcycle.

I play bass guitar in the Tyler Run Band (I also did the website), though we haven't been active lately because we can't make our schedules work. My bass of choice is a '90 Fender Jazz Bass plus.

I've also been playing some ukulele, a Lanikai Koa tenor uke. I got inspired to play this after a honeymoon in Hawaii and some Israel Kamakawiwo'ole CD's.

I could go on for hours on this one. I like a lot of different types of music (My MP3 player has over 5000 songs on it), so here's a representative sample:

Rock: All sorts of stuff, but my favorite is still Rush (here is another great unofficial Rush site)

Contemporary Folk: Dar Williams, David Wilcox, John Gorka

Classical: Beethoven (Sixth symphony, Moonlight Sonata), Telemann (Oboe concertoes), classical guitar work by Christopher Parkening and Philip Hii.

Bluegrass: Tony Rice, Alison Krauss, Seldom Scene, Hayseed Dixie

Hawaiian: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Mark Kealii Ho'omalu

Having grown up in the 70's and 80's I like a lot of the popular music from that time -- lots of guilty pleasures there!

In regular rotation on my MP3 player

Before Paul was born, I rode a 2000 Yamaha Road Star motorcycle. I sold it soon after his birth because we needed the cash more than the bike (and when was I going to ride it?). I still subscribe to Rider magazine and maybe one of these years I'll have another bike.

Bikes I would like to ride and maybe own:

Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, Harley-Davidson Road King Classic

Victory Vegas, Victory Kingpin, Victory Hammer

BMW R1200C

Kawasaki 1600 Mean Streak, Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 Nomad

Fall is the most wonderful season of the year because it means that we can watch football!

I am a lifelong fan of the Washington Redskins. It's been painful being a 'Skins fan these last ten years, but ya gotta stick with your team. Here's hoping that Joe Gibbs can take the 'Skins back to greatness!

Here are some cool Redskins resources:

Historical Win/Loss records and game scores

Redskins Warpath

Redskins History

Redskins historical helmet designs (look at the bottom of the page)

...and don't forget NFL.com!

I could read maps before I could read books (and I could read before I got to kindergarten). My grandfather (Paul's namesake) taught me how when I was a wee lad.

Sometimes I'll even pull out some maps and just sit and read them to relax. My wife thinks that this is terribly geeky. Not so geeky when we need to get somewhere and I can get us there...like when we were in Ireland making a habit out of wrong turns and fighting to get to our intended destinations.

I collect maps, especially the ones offered by the Departments of Transportation of the various states I've visited (you know, the ones that you get in visitor centers at rest stops). Over time, I've acquired official state maps for

Maryland
Virginia
Pennsylvania
North Carolina
South Carolina
West Virginia
Ohio
Kentucky
New Hampshire
Vermont
Maine

I also have some other interesting older maps, including some of the DC area in the early sixties that show the Capital Beltway under construction.

GPS technology has taken this to a new level. It's a pity that our budget doesn't have room for one. I've had GPS navigational devices in rental cars (including that INCREDIBLE Jaguar XJ8 that I drove during a business trip to the Boston area) and they are fun to work with.

Here are some cool map and road-related links:

Regional links (from http://www.cahighways.org)
Kurumi's SignMaker - make your own highway road signs!
Shields Up! - make your own highway shields...
James Lin's Road Markers site - all sorts of signs, including state road markers for all states
History of the Raleigh Beltline
Links page on MdRoads.com

I'm an avid reader. I prefer fiction -- mysteries, techno-thrillers, sci-fi. I only read technical books when I have to. Too many textbooks in college, I think.

Favorite authors and books: